Dictionary

mysterical en · ADJ

Etymology

From mystery + -ical.

Meanings

1. (archaic) Mysterious, mystic.
   • “Song V. The bleſſed Bethlemite,” is devided into twelve ſections, in alphabetical order, containing the types, titles, attributes, &c. of Chriſt ; to which is prefixed a table, exhibiting at one view theſe myſterical names. 1798, Alexander Campbell, “Additional Notes, Omissions, &c.”, in An introduction to the history of poetry in Scotland, page 365:
   • The fact that they were invariably found with animal remains certainly does indicate some mysterical use in sacrifice or sepulchural rites. 1949, Paul Einzig, “Iron sword currency on Britain” (chapter 14), in Primitive Money: In Its Ethnological, Historical and Economic Aspects, Eyre & Spottiswoode, Book II: Historical, Part I: Ancient Period, page 246:
   • They are so strong in the arm, that they can draw a bow which a stout Norwegian can hardly bend ; yet lazy even to torpidity, when not incited by necessity ; and pusillanimous and nervous to a mysterical degree. 1823 January 11, “Winter in Spitzbergen”, in The Minerva, volume 1, number 40, Arts and Sciences, page 318:
   • Old Darby ſo I ſhall him call, / Dreamed a Dream myſterical; / Which ſorely did torment his Thought, / Bewilder'd in a Trap was caught. 1766, Thomas Sadler, “Bunch Hesperus: or, The Mock-Artist: A Burleſque Poem.”, in Poems on various subjects. To which is added, The merry miller: or, The country-man's ramble to London, a farce, page 101:
   • The Dead in Spirit is one thing, and the Dead in our Conſumed Fleſh is another; And thoſe that became the firſt Fruits of them that Slept. This I take to be the Myſterical Body. 1707, Le Wright, The Soul the Body at the Last-Day, Proved from Holy-Writ: Refuting the Common Receiv'd Opinion, That We ſhall be Judged in Our Corruptible Bodies, page 15:
   • Independently of the nature of these contacts—sequential or parallel—the thought of this philosopher represents a living link between ancient mysterical cults, Greek philosophy, and monotheism. 2022 November, Guillermo M. Jodra, On Hellenism, Judaism, Individualism, and Early Christian Theories of the Subject, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 88:

Forms

Deriveds

mysterically